What Is Our Preparedness For Disasters?

The triple whammy of  earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear radiation has hit Japan, but actually it has jolted the whole world.  Firstly, it is the suddenness of natural disasters and secondly the threat nuclear plants can pose in case of crisis situation like this where the electricity to cool the plant is not there and hence making the situation uncontrollable.  Japan, as of today, is dealing with it and we hope and pray that the situation comes under control and the citizens of the country get rehabilitated soon.

But, imagining such a scenario about our country India is really frightening.  The metro cities are so densely populated.  Illiteracy and lack of information as well as awareness in the common man is one of the biggest impediments in dealing with a disaster than may take place.  Not to mention the ill preparation at the authorities end.

But, should we just wait for the State, the authorities to come forward and educate us about the precautions to be taken, or should we, as educated citizens of the country, think about gathering information, forming support groups in areas of our residence (say housing societies, RWAs, local NGOs etc) to find out ways to garner support in case of a natural or man made diaster?  How are we preparing ourselves for a disaster?

These questions did hound me a few years back when I attended an awareness workshop organised  by National Disaster Management Authority of Government of India.  In fact, after attending this workshop, I searched the popular book stores to see what kind of books are being published to make the citizens aware of the preparation to face the natural or man made disaster.  Exposing myself to such information made me more conscious towards the possible precautions to be taken, and the kind of actions required in case of a disaster. (I tried, but still can't say I'm completely ready to face any crisis situation.)

The cover page of the CBSE book for IX class

I sent the brochures and reading material I collected from the exhibition to my son's class teacher, so that she could at least tell the kids about what they should do in case of an earthquake.  I live in Delhi, which is on the seismic zone and hence prone to earthquakes.  But, unfortunately, the teacher took no action at all, and returned the papers.  I guess, teachers are not supposed to expose 5th - 6th class students to such topics... I just guess that, I don't know.

But, much to my delight, CBSE prescribed an additional book on "Disaster Management' for IX and X classes (in social studies) . Thankfully, now, the awareness would be given right from the young age, the schooling days.  And since, I help my son with his studies, it was really very interesting and informative for me to read it.

Although, it came as a sad coincidence, while I was teaching my son about the accidental nuclear radiation and the explosion, he could relate with it, as the pictures of Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Reactor were there in the newspaper that day.

Coming back to the scenario of India, we know that the overall preparedness of our Govt and our people is not as good as Japan, and when we see Japan trembling at this juncture, we have all the reasons to pause and ponder.  I can not talk about what the Govt should do, but I would definitely talk about what I, as a citizen of this country would do.  I am not talking about community service, honestly, we people are so occupied with earning a living for ourselves and our families that thinking about doing some social service or associating with a NGO is quite unthinkable for most of us.

So, I'm only talking about being aware - of the geographical location, possible threats, necessary precautions to be taken before a crisis, identifying what calamity has stuck us, how to protect ourselves immediately, and what should be the further course of action.

Since, I had a lot of share about Disaster Management, Types of Disasters and what should be done as a precautionary measure and as a remedial measure, I decided to break this post into two parts.  I shall post the second part titled - Disaster Management - and Overview in 2-3 days.

Stay aware...


RESTLESS